Commercial vessels and over 65í have to have it. It is really awesome though and I would not go without it again. Crossing Lake Ontario the rain was coming down so hard the radar was in a white out. Saw a ship on AIS that was on a collision course with us. About that time the ship called us by name and told us that they were changing course to pass astern of us. Wonderful.

Having it on does not create a problem, and can even provide a ownerr with a remote indication that all is well on his boat while he is away.

I disagree that leaving them on doesnít necessarily create a problem. Having active AIS signals from boats that are not currently in operation can clutter up the AIS display in busy harbors reducing its effectiveness at its intended purpose, to help with collision avoidance.

I disagree that leaving them on doesnít necessarily create a problem. Having active AIS signals from boats that are not currently in operation can clutter up the AIS display in busy harbors reducing its effectiveness at its intended purpose, to help with collision avoidance.

AIS signals on boats not in transit don't bother me much because they are in the marinas next to other boats that are not moving. Every marina in my area has about 5 boats per marina who keep their AIS on.

Agree, AIS is a nice tool. The ability to click on a boat when offshore to find out if its a 200 footer or a 20 footer can be helpful in the dark.

I turn mine off at the dock, but leave it on at anchor, in the mooring field. Or tied between dolfins before a lock. Have seen some bone head moves at night by other boaters. If I'm not tied to a dock, the AIS and anchor light are left on at night.

Ted

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Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
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Another consideration for those that leave their AIS powered up while secured to shore...

AIS transmits in available "time slots". There is a pecking order for those slots. By securing your unit unless you are underway or anchored, you are allowing those navigating to use the time slots for the intended safety purposes.

Another consideration for those that leave their AIS powered up while secured to shore...

AIS transmits in available "time slots". There is a pecking order for those slots. By securing your unit unless you are underway or anchored, you are allowing those navigating to use the time slots for the intended safety purposes.

Thanks to those who secure their units.

Best Wishes

Are "time slots scare"? If not, does it matter? I leave mine on all the time.

Having active AIS signals from boats that are not currently in operation can clutter up the AIS display in busy harbors reducing its effectiveness at its intended purpose, to help with collision avoidance.

AIS is useless in the harbor. Too many people leave them on. Great idea like DSC but implementation and lack of control limits practical usage.

Another consideration for those that leave their AIS powered up while secured to shore...

AIS transmits in available "time slots". There is a pecking order for those slots. By securing your unit unless you are underway or anchored, you are allowing those navigating to use the time slots for the intended safety purposes.

Thanks to those who secure their units.

Best Wishes

That was my understanding as well. As the system gets overloaded, signals further out get dropped out. I think there is also a priority system for some class A systems. As they reach the limit of the number of targets they can track, they drop the class B signals. That doesnít affect me as I donít have a transponder, yet.

I bet what you're seeing on the Marinetraffic app is not a true AIS but the pseudo-AIS one can activate using marinetraffic or boatbeacon apps on a phone or tablet and an MMSI. I use this on my boat but do not have a real AIS.

Occasionally, when I drive home from the marina, I forget to turn off the boat beacon on my tablet and it looks like FlyWright is cruising down the highway.

Another consideration for those that leave their AIS powered up while secured to shore...

AIS transmits in available "time slots". There is a pecking order for those slots. By securing your unit unless you are underway or anchored, you are allowing those navigating to use the time slots for the intended safety purposes.

Thanks to those who secure their units.

Best Wishes

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhays

That was my understanding as well. As the system gets overloaded, signals further out get dropped out. I think there is also a priority system for some class A systems. As they reach the limit of the number of targets they can track, they drop the class B signals. That doesnít affect me as I donít have a transponder, yet.

I don't think that's quite accurate. The busiest AIS port I've been is Norfolk, VA. The Navy leaves all their AIS units on when tied to the docks. There are maybe a hundred AIS units on within 5 miles and and several hundred units within my reception range as all the commercial ships, tugs, etc leave their units on whether tied to the dock or not. While I do have to turn my guard zone off, the accuracy of moving ships in the shipping channel doesn't seem to be effected.

Ted

__________________
Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
I want to spend some time, Not come and go in a heated rush....."Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters

I disagree that leaving them on doesnít necessarily create a problem. Having active AIS signals from boats that are not currently in operation can clutter up the AIS display in busy harbors reducing its effectiveness at its intended purpose, to help with collision avoidance.

I like AIS, and use it often to understand and sometimes communicate with commercial or other traffic...

But there are so many boats without it that it hasn't become our main collision avoidance tool around here.

FWIW, our installer piggy-backed ours on the MFD circuit in a way that leaves the AIS transmitter always on... unless I rummage around to trip the breaker on that circuit. Don't completely remember why they did that, IIRC something about anchoring... but the result is that ours is usually on, even when we're in the slip.